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crossover_chickYes, I suppose it can be. I've been meaning to post another 30 Dances for a while, I've just been trying to decide which one. Hopefully you'll like this one:
30. Favorite Song – How Far We’ve Come
“All right, and – there!”
Victor smiled proudly as he set the needle right in the groove on the first try. The record came to life with a crackle, the strains of Mozart’s 16th Symphony filling the room. Victor leaned back in his chair with a contented sigh. “Beautiful.”
A soft thumping heralded the arrival of his wife. Alice limped into the room, looking curious. “So you managed to get the gramophone working?”
“Amazingly,” Victor said. “My hands were shaking so much at first that I thought for sure I’d scratch it.” He looked back at the machine with a smile. “Remember when we first got this from Hatter?”
“How could I forget?” Alice laughed. “The look on your face when it threw that first record across the room. . . .”
“Hey, you were pretty shocked too! Not to mention having to deal with the steam pouring from the horn every so often. . . .” He shook his head. “But we managed to figure it out in the end.”
“Yes,” Alice said wistfully. “Remember how we used to spend quiet, rainy afternoons just dancing together?” She chuckled. “Of course, that was before we had to deal with three children, instead of just one small baby.”
Victor laughed too. “Yes, I remember.” He paused a moment, thinking. Then, slowly, he stood up straight, grunting a little as his back twinged. Ugh – if he’d known getting old was such a nuisance, he might have followed Hatter’s example and replaced some of his bits with mechanics. He extended a slightly-shaky hand with a smile. “You know, it is just us now. . . .”
Alice blinked at him, surprised. “I don’t think I’d be a particularly good dance partner anymore,” she pointed out, waggling her cane at him.
“It’s okay – you can just lean on me.” Victor advanced a step. “Please? This used to be one of our favorites.”
Alice smirked at him. “What do you mean, ‘used to?’” she retorted, before carefully laying her cane against a nearby armchair. She took a few unsteady steps toward him, rubbing her bad leg a bit. Victor closed the gap and wrapped his arms tightly around her, making sure he was supporting her properly. Once he was sure neither of them was going to fall over, he began moving in a tight circle, swaying gently to the music.
Alice rested her head against his chest with a deep, contented sigh. “Mmm. It’s just as nice as I remember,” she murmured. “Oh, Victor, I wish this moment could last forever.”
“So do I, Alice,” Victor agreed, ignoring the protests from his knees as he bent down to kiss her.
Neither of them realized that, by tomorrow morning, they’d both be wishing it really had.
Yes, I give you a sweet story about Old!Victor/Alice -- AND I SET IT ON THE LAST DAY OF VICTOR'S LIFE. I am evil, it's official.
-TTV: . . . At least he was happy?-
Yeah, there's that, I guess. I'm not entirely sure how this fic morphed into its present form. It just came to me one day and fit the prompt well enough. This is Victor and Alice in their 80s, if you're wondering. I think I've decided that Victor dies at 83 by now. *checks rough timeline* No, 82. (Now I want to change it to 83 just to give him an extra year.) I was inspired by two fics from the 30 Kisses: Looney Tunes And Merry Melodies for the dancing to the gramophone bit, and So Long And Goodnight for the evil making-it-the-last-day-of-Victor's-life bit. The peculiarities of the gramophone and why Alice walks with a cane are explained in those two stories respectively.
I didn't edit this one much, though Alice's mention of the rainy afternoons they spent dancing did get a small change -- I couldn't remember when gramophones went on general sale, just that it was after Victor and Alice would have gotten married. Since by their third anniversary they'd have a small child, I hedged my bets and threw a mention of baby!Chester in there. Also, the Mozart piece was chosen completely at random. I wanted Victor to be listening to something classical, and after some poking around I grabbed that off Wikipedia. And one other thing -- this actually the first of a pair of stories. The second is a little more cheerful, despite being set AFTER this one. You'll see when I post it -- I'll make sure it's the next one in the lineup.
Title Notes: The title is from a Matchbox 20 song I like. Though to be honest, I just spotted the title online somewhere and found it rather matched the prompt, since it's about an older Victor and Alice.
Okay, time for more Cracked.com.
30. Favorite Song – How Far We’ve Come
“All right, and – there!”
Victor smiled proudly as he set the needle right in the groove on the first try. The record came to life with a crackle, the strains of Mozart’s 16th Symphony filling the room. Victor leaned back in his chair with a contented sigh. “Beautiful.”
A soft thumping heralded the arrival of his wife. Alice limped into the room, looking curious. “So you managed to get the gramophone working?”
“Amazingly,” Victor said. “My hands were shaking so much at first that I thought for sure I’d scratch it.” He looked back at the machine with a smile. “Remember when we first got this from Hatter?”
“How could I forget?” Alice laughed. “The look on your face when it threw that first record across the room. . . .”
“Hey, you were pretty shocked too! Not to mention having to deal with the steam pouring from the horn every so often. . . .” He shook his head. “But we managed to figure it out in the end.”
“Yes,” Alice said wistfully. “Remember how we used to spend quiet, rainy afternoons just dancing together?” She chuckled. “Of course, that was before we had to deal with three children, instead of just one small baby.”
Victor laughed too. “Yes, I remember.” He paused a moment, thinking. Then, slowly, he stood up straight, grunting a little as his back twinged. Ugh – if he’d known getting old was such a nuisance, he might have followed Hatter’s example and replaced some of his bits with mechanics. He extended a slightly-shaky hand with a smile. “You know, it is just us now. . . .”
Alice blinked at him, surprised. “I don’t think I’d be a particularly good dance partner anymore,” she pointed out, waggling her cane at him.
“It’s okay – you can just lean on me.” Victor advanced a step. “Please? This used to be one of our favorites.”
Alice smirked at him. “What do you mean, ‘used to?’” she retorted, before carefully laying her cane against a nearby armchair. She took a few unsteady steps toward him, rubbing her bad leg a bit. Victor closed the gap and wrapped his arms tightly around her, making sure he was supporting her properly. Once he was sure neither of them was going to fall over, he began moving in a tight circle, swaying gently to the music.
Alice rested her head against his chest with a deep, contented sigh. “Mmm. It’s just as nice as I remember,” she murmured. “Oh, Victor, I wish this moment could last forever.”
“So do I, Alice,” Victor agreed, ignoring the protests from his knees as he bent down to kiss her.
Neither of them realized that, by tomorrow morning, they’d both be wishing it really had.
Yes, I give you a sweet story about Old!Victor/Alice -- AND I SET IT ON THE LAST DAY OF VICTOR'S LIFE. I am evil, it's official.
-TTV: . . . At least he was happy?-
Yeah, there's that, I guess. I'm not entirely sure how this fic morphed into its present form. It just came to me one day and fit the prompt well enough. This is Victor and Alice in their 80s, if you're wondering. I think I've decided that Victor dies at 83 by now. *checks rough timeline* No, 82. (Now I want to change it to 83 just to give him an extra year.) I was inspired by two fics from the 30 Kisses: Looney Tunes And Merry Melodies for the dancing to the gramophone bit, and So Long And Goodnight for the evil making-it-the-last-day-of-Victor's-life bit. The peculiarities of the gramophone and why Alice walks with a cane are explained in those two stories respectively.
I didn't edit this one much, though Alice's mention of the rainy afternoons they spent dancing did get a small change -- I couldn't remember when gramophones went on general sale, just that it was after Victor and Alice would have gotten married. Since by their third anniversary they'd have a small child, I hedged my bets and threw a mention of baby!Chester in there. Also, the Mozart piece was chosen completely at random. I wanted Victor to be listening to something classical, and after some poking around I grabbed that off Wikipedia. And one other thing -- this actually the first of a pair of stories. The second is a little more cheerful, despite being set AFTER this one. You'll see when I post it -- I'll make sure it's the next one in the lineup.
Title Notes: The title is from a Matchbox 20 song I like. Though to be honest, I just spotted the title online somewhere and found it rather matched the prompt, since it's about an older Victor and Alice.
Okay, time for more Cracked.com.
